And while this episode did lend some credence to this
theory, in the episode commentary, "Game of Thrones"
showrunner D.B. Weiss shut this idea down once and for
all.

"She’s not her father, she’s not insane, and she’s not a sadist,"
Weiss explains. "But there’s a Targaryen ruthlessness that
comes with even the good Targaryens."

This is a pretty strong dismissal of fan theories about
Daenerys slowly devolving into her father as she takes
on more and more power. While Daenerys has remained fairly
sane so far, the Targaryen dynasty has a history of mental
illness and madness, mainly due to intermarriage. Daenerys’ own
father, King Aerys II, was called the Mad King because he became
paranoid and started killing people and hiding
wildfire around King’s Landing.

And in the past, we've seen that Daenerys has a
penchant for violence, vengeance, and does not flinch from
burning those who disagree with her, whether they're Mirri Maz
Duur in season one or the Khals in season six.

This is Daenerys'
conquering face.HBO

But the first scene in episode nine between Tyrion and
Daenerys addressed these concerns and reminded her of the limits
of vengeance. It even ended with Tyrion cautioning his queen
about the excessive use of force:

"I will crucify the masters, I will set their fleets a’fire, I
will kill every last one of their soldiers and return their
cities to the dirt," Daenerys says. "That is my plan. You don’t
approve."

"You once told me you knew what your father was," Tyrion answers.
"But you know his plans for King’s Landing when the Lannister
armies were at his gates? Probably not. Well he told my brother
and Jaime told me. He had caches of wildfire hidden under the Red
Keep, the guild halls, the Sept of Baelor, all the major
thoroughfares. He would have burned every one of his citizens,
the loyal ones and the traitors. Every man, woman, and child,
that’s why Jaime killed him."

Though she's heard rumors before that her father was insane, this
is the first time Daenerys is hearing definitive proof of
why people wanted him dethroned and dead.

She even started referring to her father as "evil" later in
the episode when she speaks with Yara and Theon Greyjoy.

"Our fathers were evil men, all of us here," she says. "They left
the world worse than they found it. We're not going to do that.
We're going to leave the world better than we found it."

"We're going to leave the
world better than we found it."HBO

While Daenerys may have come back into Meereen an angry
conqueror, she quickly pivoted to her role as savvy ruler,
after some careful prodding from Tyrion. Daario may have
previously told her she wasn't "made to sit on a chair in a
palace," yet that's exactly where she is in Meereen — sitting in
her throne room and using political alliances to help her reach
her goal of becoming Queen of Westeros.

That's not exactly the crazy, take-no-prisoners Daenerys
Targaryen we have been seeing this season.

Still, despite showrunners shutting down the thoery that she
will become evil, there could be a complicated friction when
Daenerys does finally sail to Westeros. Instead of
being the hero she assumes she will be, Daenerys could likely
face opposition and bring destruction and death to the kingdom.

On the other hand, she possesses dragons that could be
the key
to defeating the White Walkers (at least on the show). We
know that valyrian steel and "dragonglass" — two things believed
to be made with dragon fire — can kill the White Walkers, so it
stands to reason that actual fire from actual
dragons would do the trick, too.

So while she may not be greeted in Westeros as a hero, she
and her dragons could fast become their only hope.

HBO

With Jon Snow now ruling in the north and Daenerys sailing in
from the south, it's likely Westeros will see these two power
players meet somewhere in the middle. When they do, there are so
many options at play. Will they find a kindred spirit in one
another? Will they hate each other? Will they be forced to
work together or clash horribly, causing another war to
break out in the Seven Kingdoms?

It looks like at least on the show, Daenerys is back to being a
heroic character, at least in the showrunners' eyes. Whether this
is how George R.R. Martin will end his series remains to be
seen.